Mothers Against Drunk Driving gives Utah only a B-minus for its efforts to reduce drunken driving.
Worse, it said Tuesday that Utah is one of only three states where deaths from drunken driving increased between 1990 and 1992.The organization hopes that will be sobering news as Utahns head into the long Thanksgiving weekend - when more Americans are traveling U.S. highways than at any other time.
"Drunk driving remains an epidemic," said MADD President Beckie Brown. "We say that drunk driving is not an accident. It is a crime, in fact, the most frequently committed violent crime in our country."
Utah's B-minus still allowed it to finish in a tie for 13th-best among the states. Illinois had the highest grade, an A-minus. The lowest was a D-minus in Mississippi (followed by a D for Utah's neighbor Wyoming). MADD gave the nation as a whole the same B-minus it gave Utah.
MADD noted that Transportation Department estimates show alcohol-related fatalities from auto accidents in Utah increased from 65 to 84 between 1990 and 1992 - a 29 percent hike.
Only two other states had increases - Alaska, by 35 percent, and Colorado by 1 percent. Nationally, the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths decreased 19.4 percent in that time.
It also noted that a third of the 269 traffic deaths in Utah in 1992 were alcohol-related.
Transportation Secretary Federico F. Pena, who joined a MADD press conference to unveil grades for the states, told states, "The reason for this test is to identify ways to improve."
And MADD had plenty of suggestions for Utah, including:
- It gave Utah a "D" in prevention and public awareness programs and innovation. It said Utah lacks a state-sponsored campaign to publicize laws, target high-risk holidays, use street and highway signs for anti-drunken driving messages and push creative programs to reach young people.
- It gave Utah a C-minus in enforcement, saying the state needs "increased use of sobriety checkpoints and other high-visibility enforcement methods."
- It gave Utah a C-plus in victim issues, saying the state needs a constitutional amendment for victim rights.
- It gave Utah a C-plus on regulatory control, saying it needs "more accurate records on underage sales."
- It gave the state a C-plus on administrative and criminal sanctions saying it needs vehicle confiscation for multiple of- fenders and minimum security facilities for offenders that could include assessment of drinking problems and treatment.
- It gave Utah grades of B-plus for governor's leadership and statistics and records. But it said Utah still lacks a statewide DUI task force and that the state needs to allow better access to records.
- It gave Utah A's for its overall legislation, youth activities and providing money to fight drunken driving. MADD would still like to see enhanced penalties for refusal to take blood-alcohol content tests, and laws to limit the reduction and diversion of criminal charges.
MADD also praised Utah and other states for vast improvements over the past decade. It noted that drinking-related highway deaths since 1982 have dropped 25.7 percent in Utah (even with recent increases), and decreased 29.2 percent nationwide.